Big Brother 2001, also known as Big Brother 2, was the second series of the British reality television series Big Brother. The show followed eleven contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom built House. Each week, one or more of the housemates were evicted by a public vote. The last remaining housemate, Brian Dowling, was declared the winner, winning a cash prize of £70,000.

As with the previous series, Big Brother 2 lasted 64 days. It launched on Channel 4 on 25 May 2001 and ended on 27 July 2001. Davina McCall returned as presenter for her second consecutive year. Ten housemates entered on launch night, with one additional housemate being introduced in the third week. The series was watched by an average of 4.5 million viewers, matching the average viewership of the first series. The Final however attracted Big Brother's most watched rating ever, Which attracted 13.7 million viewers - making it Channel 4's second most watched broadcast. It also spawned Big Brother's first ancillary show entitled Big Brother's Little Brother, presented by Dermot O'Leary.

In 2010, Dowling was voted by the public as Big Brother's "Ultimate Housemate", after winning Ultimate Big Brother, the final series of the show to air on Channel 4. When Big Brother moved to Channel 5 in 2011, he replaced McCall as presenter, and remained in the role until 2013.

Big Brother first began airing in the Netherlands, while editions in countries such as Germany proving to be hits with the public.[1][2] Following the success of the show, it was confirmed that editions for the United States and the United Kingdom were in the works.[3]Big Brother 1 (2000) proved to be a ratings success for Channel 4, leading to the announcement of a second series.[4][5][6] Prior to Big Brother 2, a celebrity edition of the show aired on Channel 4.[7] Rumors of a second series began in September 2000, when it was confirmed that Channel 5 and ITV were both interested in acquiring the series.[8] Casting for Big Brother 2 began in late 2000. Candidates for the new series were able to apply at open casting calls, sending in a video audition, or a telephone hotline.[9] In December 2000, it was reported that more than 250,000 applications had been sent in; the first season received an estimated 40,000 applications.[9] The live feed returned for this series, with a total of four feeds available on the Channel 4 site. The feed was cut for an estimated two hours nightly, and featured a delay for privacy reasons.[10]

Davina McCall returned to present the series after presenting the prior series.[11] The original ten housemates entered the house on 25 May 2001.[12] Amongst the cast this series was Amma Antwi-Agyei, a stripper who wanted to "show Britain that not all strippers are the Jerry Springer stereotype."[13] Housemate Elizabeth Woodcock was dating an older man prior to appearing on the series, while Dean O'Laughlin had been in a band that toured across the United States before being dropped by their record label.[14]Brian Dowling was the first openly gay male to appear on the series,[15] with Josh Rafter also being gay.[16] This season featured a total of five women and six men.[17]

The series launched on 25 May 2001 on Channel 4.[12] There were a total of four highlight shows airing Monday through Thursday, with Friday being a live eviction episode presented by Davina McCall.[18] Two episodes of the series aired on Friday. During the first episode, viewers were shown the highlights from the previous day and McCall revealed the housemate who had been evicted from the House.[19] Two hours following this, the second episode of the night aired which saw the evicted housemate exit the House and participate in an interview with McCall.[19] One of the highlight episodes per week featured a team of psychologists discussing the events of the previous week from their viewpoint.[18][20] The series lasted for 64 days, concluding on 27 July 2001.[21] There were a total of 55 episodes this series.[22] This was the first season to feature the spin-off series Big Brother's Little Brother (2001–10), presented by Dermot O'Leary; Natalie Casey co-presented the series with O'Leary during the first week.[23]Big Brother Reveals More (2001) aired solely during this series, and saw the major plot points of the past week being recapped.

For the first two series, the house was located in Bow, London near to the 3 Mills Studios. The second series had a bigger budget, and the house used was renovated for a new look. Despite a similar layout to the original house, the decorations and furniture were completely different. The new House had a "Cabin fever" theme, as the format of the show was similar to the feeling of having cabin fever. With this theme, there were wooden walls throughout the majority of the house. There was a living room, where important news such as nominations were revealed to the housemates. The kitchen remained simple, with only necessities such as an oven, fridge, and sink. In the "Diary Room", in which housemates may speak privately and reveal their true feelings to the public, there is a more interesting look to it. The background of the room has the appearance of a garage door, with the Big Brother eye logo imprinted on it. Like the previous season, there is a men's and women's bedroom, each with five beds in them. One of the five in each room is larger than all of the others. Unlike the previous season, however, the men and women were allowed to choose which bedroom belonged to which gender. The outside of the house features a chicken coop, with seven hens and one rooster. The housemates must care for the chickens during their stay in the house, and must also use the eggs from the chickens to eat, otherwise they must use some of their budget to buy eggs. The house also features a garden, which the housemates use to grow plants and vegetables to eat. The Housemates were later given a hot tub to use in the backyard, placed close to the garden. A new feature this year was the addition of the den outside, a small area in the backyard in which housemates could enter to lounge and speak to one another. There were no couches or seats, but there were various pillows scattered around.

"The show is all about human interactions. It's people who are, loving each other, hating each other. They fight, they cry, they laugh -- all emotions, we'll see in the house."

— Paul Romer, co-creator of the original show, on the social experiment aspect of the series.[24]

Big Brother was a game show in which a group of contestants, referred to as housemates, lived in isolation from the outside world in a custom built "house", constantly under video surveillance.[25] During their time in the House, the housemates were required to nominate two of their fellow contestants for potential eviction, and the two or more with the most votes would be nominated.[26] This process was mandatory for all housemates, and failure to comply could result in ejection from the house.[27] Despite this, should a housemate enter the House following the launch, they are immune from the first round of nominations they are present for.[28] The public, through a vote conducted by phone, would vote to evict one of the nominated housemates from the House, and the housemate with the most votes from the viewers would be evicted from the House.[29] When only four housemates remained, the public would vote for which of them should win the series, and the housemates with the most votes would become the winner.[30] The housemates were competing for a £70,000 cash prize.[31][32]
Books, allowed in Series 1, were banned in Series 2.
During their time in the House, housemates were given weekly tasks to perform.[3] The housemates would wager a portion of their weekly shopping budget on the task, and would either win double their wagered fund or lose the wagered fund depending on their performance in the task.[33] The housemates were required to work as a group to complete the task, with the format of the tasks varying based on the number of remaining housemates. Should the housemates run out of the food provided for them, an emergency ration was available to them. The housemates were forbidden from discussing nominations, and doing so could result in punishment.[34][35] The format of the series was mainly seen as a social experiment, and required housemates to interact with others who may have differing ideals, beliefs, and prejudices.[20][36] Housemates were also required to make visits to the Diary Room during their stay in the House, where they were able to share their thoughts and feelings on their fellow housemates and the game.[37] While in the House, the housemates are free to leave at any time, however, will not be allowed to return to the House.[38][39] Similarly, a housemate can be removed from the House by production should they repeatedly break the rules set for the housemates.[40][41] Should a housemate choose to leave the House or be ejected, a replacement housemate will enter the House sometime after their departure.[42][43] Upon entering the House, new housemates are exempt from the first round of nominations they are present for.[44]

On Day 1, the original ten housemates - Bubble, Amma, Helen, Narinder, Stuart, Dean, Brian, Penny, Paul and Elizabeth - entered the house. During the first night, the housemates were informed by Big Brother that the Den had been unlocked, and they could now enter it. Upon entering, they found a dummy and a note, stating that an eleventh housemate would enter shortly after the first eviction. The public then learned that they could vote for either Anne, Josh, or Natasha to enter the game. On Day 2, they were given their first weekly task. They were required to build a fire in the backyard by noon, and had to keep it lit for a consecutive 120 hours - five days. The fire had to be watched by two or more housemates at all times. They wagered 30% of their weekly budget on the task. On Day 5, the group failed the task as Helen left Elizabeth alone with the fire. They were informed of their loss a few days later. On Day 6, Helen celebrated her 23rd birthday in the house. She was given the choice of two presents: either taking a Gucci handbag and shoes or taking a party for the house. She decided to take the party for the house, which they had later that night.

On Day 8, it was revealed that the public had chosen Josh to enter the game, and that he would remain cut off from the outside world until he entered the game. Later that night, the Housemates participated in the first live nominations of the series, which resulted in Helen and Penny being the first Housemates to be nominated for eviction this season. Brian, Stuart, and Dean had no nominations cast against them, while Penny and Helen had the most nominations with five each. The task for this week was to learn first-aid, something which Brian had already had to learn as a flight attendant. The housemates had to treat injured "people" on the assessment day. Due to Brian's knowledge on the topic, the Housemates felt confident in their ability to do well, and wagered 60% of their weekly budget on the task. The Housemates passed this task a few days later. On Day 14, Bubble celebrated his 25th birthday in the house. This made him the second person this season to celebrate their birthday in the house, after Helen. On Day 15, Penny became the first Housemate to be evicted, receiving 58% of the public vote.

On Day 16, new Housemate Josh entered the game through the Diary Room. His entrance came as a surprise for the other Housemates, who were not aware he would be entering that day. On Day 17, the house were given a jacuzzi in the backyard, which they could use on their own free will. Later that day, they were given their new task which required them to learn ten facts about their fellow Housemates. They wagered 40% of the shopping budget on this task. On Day 18, the Housemates participated in the second nominations of the season. As a new housemate, Josh was exempt from making nominations or being nominated this week. Ultimately, both Stuart and Paul received four nominations each, and were nominated for eviction. Elizabeth, Dean, and Brian received no nominations this week, while Stuart and Paul both had the highest number of nominations. On Day 20, Brian celebrated his 23rd birthday in the house. The Housemates passed this task, as only Josh failed his part of the task. On Day 22, Stuart became the second HouseGuest to be evicted, having received 86% of the public vote.

On Day 23, Housemates were given their fourth weekly task, which was to adopt an individual dance and perform it on request from Big Brother at any time between 8am and 2am for 5 days. Each Housemate would grab a partner when instructed, and would have 20 minutes to make it to the stage. Each Housemate would pick a genre, and had to be outside for that genre. Each genre of music also had a specific dance move that the participants had to perform at least three times during the dance. They wagered 10% of their weekly budget on this task. On Day 25, the Housemates participated in the third set of weekly nominations. This week resulted in Paul being nominated for the second time in a row, this time with Narinder. Helen, Dean, and Elizabeth had no nominations cast against them this week, while Narinder received the most with six nominations. That night, Bubble injured himself in an attempt to get to the stage in time, and thus no longer had to participate in the task. On Day 27, the Housemates performed a task in which they had to design hats for one another. They later earned food and drinks for the task. The housemates failed their weekly task when Josh was not on the platform on time during a group dance. Narinder became the third Housemate evicted on Day 29, having received 62% of the public vote against Paul.

The fifth weekly task was for Housemates to attempt to set a new Guinness World Record by the end of the week. There were four records total that they could break, and they would perform one task each day in an attempt to break the record. They would only pass the task if they broke one or more of the records. The group decided to wager 10% of their weekly shopping budget on the task. On Day 32, Housemates participated in the fourth set of nominations. Paul was revealed to be a nominee this week for the third consecutive time, having received a nomination from everyone except for Helen. He was nominated against Bubble, who had received three nominations this week. Elizabeth was the only Housemate to receive no nominations this week, making this the third week in a row she has received no nominations. On Day 34, the housemates passed their weekly task because Dean had set the record for the highest sugar cube tower. Though he did not break the world record, Bubble did break the UK record for most sweet corn kernels eaten, breaking the record that had been set since 1988. Elizabeth also celebrated her birthday in the house on this day. Bubble was evicted on Day 36, having received 53% of the public vote. This became the closest eviction vote of the season.

On Day 37, the Housemates received their new task, in which a dog, a white poodle named Paddy, would be released into the house for four hours every day. While Paddy was in the house, they were required to teach him tricks. They randomly selected eight tricks, which were the tricks they had to teach him. They were provided with a clicker and pieces of chicken to help train Paddy. They wagered 50% of the weekly shopping budget on the task. The Housemates failed their weekly task, as Paddy didn't know how to fetch. Paddy died in June 2008, and 26 June 2008 episode of Big Brother 9 was dedicated to him. On Day 38, Housemates were given the task of making a soap opera based on their time in the house. On Day 39, Housemates participated in their fifth set of nominations. Amma and Paul were nominated for eviction this week, making it the fourth time in a row that Paul has been nominated for eviction. Every Housemate received at least one nomination this week, with Amma and Paul both tying for the most with four nominations each. Brian told the other Housemates that if he wasn't nominated for eviction this week that he would shave his head. On Day 40, following the reveal of the nominations, Dean shaved his head for him. Later that day, two intruders got into the backyard, causing a lockdown to be held. The intruders were immediately taken off the premises, and had no contact with the other Housemates. On Day 43, Amma became the fifth person evicted from the house, having received 64% of the vote against Paul.

On Day 44, Housemates were given their new weekly task, in which they had to dismantle a drum kit, move it over an obstacle course, and then reassemble it. They were required to complete this task in eight minutes and fifteen seconds, otherwise they would fail the task. Housemates wagered 36.4% on the task. On Day 46, Housemates participated in the sixth round of nominations. For the first time since the first week, Paul was not nominated for eviction. This week, Housemates Helen and Josh were nominated for eviction. Josh received the most nominations that week, having received four, while Helen received three nominations. For the fourth week in the game, Elizabeth received no nominations this week from her fellow Housemates. The Housemates later passed their weekly task, as they finished the course and put together the kit in eight minutes and one second. On Day 50, it was revealed that Josh had been evicted from the house, having received 84% of the public vote.

On Day 51, Housemates were given their eighth weekly task, which was to play playground games. This included games such as skipping, riding a pogo stick, using a hula-hoop, and using a space hopper. The Housemates had six minutes to complete the task this week. On Day 53, Housemates took part in the final nominations of the season. Helen and Paul were nominated against each other for eviction, with both of them receiving three nominations. All of their fellow Housemates nominated them together for eviction. All of the Housemates received at least one nomination this week. The Housemates failed their weekly task this week, taking over nine minutes to complete the given challenge. On Day 57, Paul became the seventh person evicted from the house, having received 84% of the public vote against Helen. Voting for the winner of the series began following Paul's eviction. On Day 63, in a surprise eviction, Elizabeth was evicted from the house as she received only 2% of the public vote to win. On Day 64, Dean exited the house in third place, receiving 5% of the vote to win. Helen left as the Runner-Up with 39% of the vote, and Brian left as the winner, having received 61% of the public vote to win the series.

^Note 1 : On Day 8, housemates were required to make their nominations during a live broadcast.

^Note 2 : As a new housemate, Josh could not nominate and could not be nominated by his fellow housemates.

^Note 3 : There were no nominations in the final week as the public were voting for who they wanted to win rather than to evict.. The housemate with the fewest votes to win, Elizabeth, was evicted in a surprise eviction on Day 63. The voting lines for the remaining three housemates then re-opened.

In the fifth week, when Bubble was nominated against Paul for eviction, Bubble was evicted from the house. His eviction was seen as controversial, when it was uncovered that a phone number posted on the internet advertising news for rival football clubs had actually been falsely set-up, and would register voters to evict Bubble from the House.[46] The vote to evict Bubble was only 53%, thus excluding the votes that were falsely cast, Bubble could have stayed in the game over Paul, who went on to receive fifth place in the series. In total, Bubble received 534,574 votes, while Paul received 470,059.[47] This marked the second time in the series that the voting process had been tampered with, when last series a mass email was sent out that featured a link to evict Housemate Melanie, though it appeared to be a link to claim a free vacation.[48] Much like the previous series as well, this season had controversial moments due to outside interference. A few days before the first round of nominations, two fireworks were let off near the house, and the housemates were immediately sent inside for fear that it could be a secret message for a Housemate.[49] In the fifth week of the game, two intruders broke into the house, and got into the hot tub.[50] The remaining Housemates were put on lockdown, and security removed the intruders from the house immediately.[51] The intrusion led to more security being put on the house.[51] Some controversy also affected the Housemates personal lives. Penny, who was a teacher before entering the house, reportedly upset her boss, who felt her showering nude in the house "set a bad example for her pupils."[52][53]